


Falling Apart (With and Without You)

by HighWarlockMegaraBane



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Behavior, Gen, Light Angst, Little Bit of Magic, PTSD, Taako has a tiny breakdown, Taako worries about losing Lup again, little bit of fighting, more emotional than anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:27:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24921544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HighWarlockMegaraBane/pseuds/HighWarlockMegaraBane
Summary: A fight goes just a little bit awry, and Taako thinks he's going to lose Lup again. And there's no way in all of the Hells in the universe that he's going to let that happen.
Relationships: Lup & Taako (The Adventure Zone)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	Falling Apart (With and Without You)

**Author's Note:**

> So instead of working on any of my WIPs, I'm...writing TAZ oneshots. I suppose.
> 
> This one and the next one are both ones I've already busted out, just to try to get me off of this writer's block hill I've found myself unable to cross. Hopefully they're not too OOC, as this is my first time writing for TAZ, so any constructive criticism is welcomed! :D

“Lup!” Magnus yelled, picking up one goblin by the arm and, with a spin like a discus, launching it into the air. “Pull!”

The elf howled with laughter, launching herself off a tall building and, with an expert Flame Bolt, sent it, shrieking, into the distance. “ _Fuck_ yeah!”

“Ha-ha!” Magnus punched the air gleefully. “Your aim is fantastic!”

“As always,” she crowed, landing in a somersault and rolling to her feet.

“If you’re quite finished!” Merle shouted, glancing up from his Extreme Teen Bible. The Holy Flame he was channeling flickered for just a second. “Help me out here!”

“Gotcha, pal!” Barry flicked both of his hands high into the air, and the fallen aarakocra he had slain rose jerkily back to its feet. With a shriek at the massive, mutated bugbear, the eagle flung itself forward, talons outstretched at its eyes. The bugbear, easily ten stories tall, dwarfed the buildings that five of the seven birds currently stood astride. With one massive hand, it swiped the reanimated aarakocra away.

Barry flinched as it crashed to the ground out of sight. “Wuh-oh.”

“You got it, babe!” Lup jeered, sticking her tongue out at him. Barry frowned, pushing his red cloak back off his shoulders as his hands found his hips.

“At least I’m not playing target practice with corpses,” he muttered, turning red.

“Need an assist?” Taako called, spinning the umbra staff against his palm. He leveled it at the bugbear and shouted an incantation that was lost in the next ear-splitting roar. A beam of frozen light burst from the tip of the umbrella and encased one of the bugbear’s massive claws, spreading quickly down its hand. It seemed concerned for just a flash before it was angry again, and smashed its hand down on the building in front of it, which crumpled to rubble. The ice shattered instantly.

“Fuck, difficulty’s really dialed up on this one,” Magnus panted as Lup dropped to his side. She shook her long hair back from her face. Her ponytail had snapped early in the fight, caught by the business end of a goblin dagger.

_Should have braided it,_ Taako had teased her, lovingly and lightheartedly. She’d threatened to feed him to the bugbear.

“I have an idea,” she finally burst out after a long moment of watching Merle struggle. She spun to shout at Taako behind them. “’Ko, what if we—”

Her words were lost in a sudden shriek as the bugbear’s hand slammed down around her, scooping her high into the air. Another loud scream echoed hers, but Magnus barely noticed it.

“Lup!” he shouted, unsheathing the Chance Lance and lobbing it with all his strength. It missed by half an inch, and the elven woman shouted at him to _aim better next time!_

Lup threw a fiery punch, but the bugbear, unbothered, shook her up and down for a few seconds before throwing her to the side. She hit a nearby building hard enough to crack the stone and dropped silently to the ground below. She didn’t get back up.

“Lup!” Barry yelled, horror sharpening the edge of the word.

“Barold, help me out!” Merle cried. He was skidding backwards on the rooftop, and with what appeared to be tremendous effort, Barry held out a hand to mirror his, channeling his own flame as well. His eyes dark and his jaw was set as the hot air forced his hair back from his eyes.

_Dammit! That’s one of our fighters down!_ Magnus turned back toward the bugbear, recalling the Chance Lance as he gritted his teeth.

Before he could even formulate another move, a blast of wind behind him knocked him flat onto his face. He struck the ground with a grunt. The visor in front of his eyes lit up: _-15 HP_ , it read.

_That was a shitty dex save,_ he thought, rolling to his back and sitting up. “Taako, what the fuck?” he growled, looking up. His mouth fell open as he turned to berate Taako for his piss-poor aim.

The wizard was clutching the umbra staff in one hand, but was levitating a good ten feet off the ground. His other hand was at his hip, palm turned upward and fingers splayed. The Gust of Wind was less a gust and more a tornado that was getting stronger with each second that passed. Both of his ears were flat against his shoulders, and his eyes were turned up at the bugbear. His mouth was set in a thin line.

“Taako!” Magnus exclaimed. The elf made no sign that he’d heard. His braid thrashed about so much in the wind that it was finally torn apart, and much of his face was suddenly obscured by wild blond locks. His hat spun off his head and landed a few feet from the human fighter.

“What’s he doing?” Barry cried.

“I don’t know,” Magnus whispered to himself, unable to tear his eyes off his friend. A strange emotion was building in the back of his throat, one that tasted like old pennies. It was something he hadn’t felt in quite some time.

_“I am but a simple idiot wizard,” Taako shrugged, peeking out from under the brim of his hat as he stuck his tongue out._

Taako lifted the umbra staff and levied it at the bugbear. He was floating ever higher, his loose shirt flapping like a flag. Magnus could see the laces on his boots pulling themselves apart.

“Taako, wait!” Magnus shouted.

_“Ten.” Taako never once took his eyes off of Lucretia. “Nine.”_

_“I—L—Taako, I-I know you’re upset—”_

_“Eight.”_

_“Taako, listen—”_

_“Seven!”_

“No one,” Taako said, and his voice reverberated around the area like screaming into a megaphone, although his mouth was hardly moving, “touches my sister.”

_Oh, so this feeling is fear._

He cocked his head, and Magnus finally got a good look at the wild fervor on his face, his teeth clenched and lips twisted in fury. His eyes were wide and his pupils narrow. An icy fist clenched Magnus’s stomach.

_“You fucking took everything from me!” Taako yelled, a single tear streaking down his face. “You took Lup from me!”_

The tip of the umbrella lit with such a white-hot light that Magnus was forced to look away. The ice in his stomach was hardening, and he rolled to a crouch, ready to protect whoever he could get to first. Thankfully, Barry and Merle had fallen in a heap together, which made Magnus’s job easier.

‘ _Simple idiot wizard’ my ass. If he’s charging up even half of his strength—_

“Stop him!” Barry yelled. It was too little too late—the energy swelled and blasted off the end of the staff as Lucretia’s voice crackled over the comm in Magnus’s ear. _“Cut the simulation!”_

Magnus threw himself over Merle and Barry, jerking his shield over all three of them as, with an earsplitting sound, the blast from the umbra staff shattered an entire wall of screens. The simulation cut immediately, and the building underneath them turned to soft foam. The bright blue sky became panels of blue and black glass, much of it spiderwebbing with cracks and shatters.

Once most of the glass had stopped raining down, Magnus stumbled to his feet and almost tripped back down over a sizable chunk of machinery. The wind dispelled and dropped Taako to the ground with a bodily thump, where he lay motionless for a few paralyzing heartbeats.

“Taako!” Magnus yelled, managing somehow to breathe with lungs knotted in terror. “Are you hurt?”

“Taako!” Lucretia and Killian shouted from the observation deck, and pounding footsteps sounded on the stairway as they ran for the floor. By the time Magnus had managed to parkour to the tower his friend stood upon, Taako had pushed himself to his knees and slid off, down the several feet to the ground where Lup was standing, looking up at him. Magnus peered over the edge, and watched him crumple into Lup’s arms, where they both fell back to the ground.

“Come on,” Magnus called to Barry and Merle, who were copying his parkour route. The last jump Barry made with ease, but Merle undershot, and the foam shuddered as he slammed into the side, a moment later hitting the ground with a grunt.

“I’m alright,” he called from out of sight. Magnus and Barry jumped down beside the elf twins, where Taako was clutching Lup’s robe, almost folded in her lap, and both of her hands were cupping his face. He was staring up at her, mouth open soundlessly, like a child who’d been lost in a Fantasy Costco and was reunited with a caregiver.

“Koko, it was just a simulation,” she was insisting, pushing tangled hair back from his panicked eyes. It was such a rare sight to see Taako’s hair down and hatless, and with panicked gasps falling from his gaping mouth, he barely looked like the fierce fighter who had killed the Hunger.

“A-Are you sure you’re not hurt? Lulu?” he stammered, eyes darting over her form. His entire body was shaking like he’d been electrocuted. “It—It cracked the fucking building—I heard you hit the pavement—”

“Taako.” She pressed her forehead firmly to his, identical eyes boring together. He managed to stop the flow of broken words, swallowing thickly. “The foam. I hit the padded foam wall. It was a simulation. I’m not hurt. I’m a little sore, sure, but I doubt I’ll even be bruised.”

“What happened, Taako?” Barry asked. Neither elf looked at him. Merle limped around the corner, wincing as he clutched his hip.

“I thought I was—it—I—I thought I was going to—to lose you—again,” Taako finally managed, and the tears that Magnus hadn’t noticed pooling in his eyes spilled down his cheeks. He slumped forward against Lup, who grabbed his shoulders to hold him steady. “I couldn’t—I can’t _lose you again, Lup._ ”

“Darling, even if I did die, I’m a lich, remember?” she teased lightly, using the palm of her hand to brush his cheeks. “I’ll still be here while Barold grows me a new body in his freaky body tank.”

Taako dropped his head to her shoulder, dragging in a few heavy, shuddering breaths. His hair fell around his face again, although it seemed more purposeful this time. A lone tear dripped off the point of his nose, landing soundlessly on her folded knees. Magnus’s heart broke. _Taako…_ “Lup, I just—”

“Taako, are you alright?” Lucretia asked, finally reaching their group with Killian and Carrie hot on her heels. “What happened? That power was tremendous—what spell did you cast?”

He didn’t even seem to register her presence. A shuddering sob tore from his throat, punctuated by a high whimper like a kicked dog. Pain twisted his insides, but before he could move Magnus felt Merle’s hand on his hip. He looked down to see the cleric staring pointedly away from the twins.

“Come on, let’s go,” he muttered. “Taako wouldn’t want us gawking at him like a zoo exhibit.”

“He’s right,” Barry whispered. Lup glanced at him from where she had her cheek pressed to Taako’s head, one hand knotted in his hair. She seemed unusually forlorn. Barry turned away and touched Killian’s shoulder, who in turn tugged Carrie along.

“But if he’s hurt,” Lucretia insisted while Magnus nudged her away. She reached back over his shoulder as if to grab the wizard, but he gently took her wrist.

“That can wait,” the fighter affirmed with a head shake. “Give him a minute.”

Magnus chanced one look back at the twins as they walked off. Lup closed her eyes, and a single tear traced down the plane of her cheek. Taako’s back heaved. Her grip was white on his shirt, but the hand that was in his hair was moving slowly, ever gently.

“I won’t do that again,” he heard her whisper into his hair. “I’ll never do that to you again, Koko.”

_When someone leaves your life, those exits are not made equal. Some are beautiful and poetic and satisfying. Others are abrupt and unfair. But most are just unremarkable, unintentional, and clumsy._


End file.
